We just got back home after the concert tonight. It was definitely an experience. Dave performed much better than I. He does well with the parents, band boosters, and students. His conducting was great too. My saxophone playing could have used a rehearsal (or two). Sadly, even though I'm a musician, I was thrown off by playing a counter-point to the main theme. I've also been practicing the songs much faster than the high schoolers were playing them. I finally eased into playing at the end and it was fun. A couple of squeaks and some out of tune notes, but I'm glad that I did it. It was nice to meet some of the families and students too.
Work was slightly stressful today, one of my coworkers is extremely frustrated with any additional tasks that are added on to our regular duties. She's also unhappy that they are soon pulling me two days a week to the pharmacy (rather than working the floor). Yesterday was my first real day in the pharmacy and I learned how to do blister packs... it's packing pills for each day of the week and also divided into different times of day (like those 7 day pill organizers, except it's for the entire month). I loved it, it was calm and relaxing. I like doing beadwork and sewing so it reminded me of that somehow. Enough brain usage to keep me from being bored, but it included just methodically placing pills into the right slots and melting the sheets together to seal.
Kiki and Lydia are playing so that's nice to see. I'm ready to go to bed so I guess that's it. I'll try to write and post pictures about Halloween. Dave might be deserting me to play poker. Also I'm excited for the end of my money seminar this week. I have Thursday off since I have to work on Saturday so I can be relaxed about getting to the cities and hopefully, maybe? get some raking done since there are a ton more leaves on the ground since we raked.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sucks-a-maphone
Another thing happening in my life currently is practicing saxophone for Dave's high school band concert. No, I am not in high school, and no, I do NOT play the saxophone as I've discovered increasingly over the last few days.
There are not any saxophone players in the high school band that Dave teaches so he has enlisted the help of two 8th graders and me to help out on a couple songs. He told me about this two weeks ago. Originally he was going to have a flute player do the sax part but she decided not to two weeks ago which is why he asked me then. I play flute and the reason it shouldn't be a horrible transition is because the fingerings for the two instruments are very similar, the reason it is horrible is my tone is awful and I play with too much stress. We've been trying out different things to improve my "honky honky" alternating with squeaky tone. More mouthpiece in the mouth, less in the mouth, tilt the instrument this way, now that way, tuck lips in, tuck one in, don't tuck them in... I should know more about this but it seems like nothing is making it better. The main thing is that I need to relax. Those 8th graders are going to school me on sax.
I also need to forget about trying to play it like a flute. I know it's obvious, but my mouth just wants to pull back and the instrument feels sort of bulky. The last few times I've practiced have resulted in mini-tantrums (one ended with a combination of many notes being blasted out and raspberry sounds). The concert is this Tuesday. The plan is to play as much as sounds good, and let the 8th graders take over if I start getting too squeaky.
Today I am working on the yarn wig for my costume. It is more work than I thought, maybe because I originally skimped on the yarn (one skein rather than the two + it's going to take). I think it's almost there though so I'm hopeful, it's the last part of the costume.
I also got some pharmacy training done online so I feel good about that since I've been putting it off for some time now. Since Halloween planning is winding down I should have more time to do that training in the evenings. Now I just need to schedule keeping this place picked up, after the costume work the place looks like a tornado hit it.
There are not any saxophone players in the high school band that Dave teaches so he has enlisted the help of two 8th graders and me to help out on a couple songs. He told me about this two weeks ago. Originally he was going to have a flute player do the sax part but she decided not to two weeks ago which is why he asked me then. I play flute and the reason it shouldn't be a horrible transition is because the fingerings for the two instruments are very similar, the reason it is horrible is my tone is awful and I play with too much stress. We've been trying out different things to improve my "honky honky" alternating with squeaky tone. More mouthpiece in the mouth, less in the mouth, tilt the instrument this way, now that way, tuck lips in, tuck one in, don't tuck them in... I should know more about this but it seems like nothing is making it better. The main thing is that I need to relax. Those 8th graders are going to school me on sax.
I also need to forget about trying to play it like a flute. I know it's obvious, but my mouth just wants to pull back and the instrument feels sort of bulky. The last few times I've practiced have resulted in mini-tantrums (one ended with a combination of many notes being blasted out and raspberry sounds). The concert is this Tuesday. The plan is to play as much as sounds good, and let the 8th graders take over if I start getting too squeaky.
Today I am working on the yarn wig for my costume. It is more work than I thought, maybe because I originally skimped on the yarn (one skein rather than the two + it's going to take). I think it's almost there though so I'm hopeful, it's the last part of the costume.
I also got some pharmacy training done online so I feel good about that since I've been putting it off for some time now. Since Halloween planning is winding down I should have more time to do that training in the evenings. Now I just need to schedule keeping this place picked up, after the costume work the place looks like a tornado hit it.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Update
I've been slightly busy making real dinners (planned ones that involve the appropriate food groups), getting ready for Halloween, and watching movies (occasionally).
Work: Work has been getting a little stressful. I still love the job, but there have been some changes to the way things are done. My co-workers, some who have worked there for upwards of 10 years, are not pleased with the changes. We receive faxes from doctor's ordering wheelchairs, dressings, and braces. The old way of doing things was to put these doctor's orders into a folder until the patient came in and requested the item. The new way is to be proactive and call the patient to see if and when they want to come in for their item. The problem is that most times we have to search for the patient's phone number (takes time), we sometimes get many orders in a day, and we have people just coming in with a hard copy requesting the item right then. Some days we have the extra time to fill out the forms ahead and contact the patient. Other days we can barely help customers who are waiting in line because things are so hectic. I decided that I am okay with doing this new way because I believe that if it doesn't work, it will be obvious and we can switch back. My co-workers who have much more experience don't feel that we should have to upset the way things were because they worked well before, why mess around with that. I don't think I'm putting it very eloquently, but that's the gist of it.
Finances: I feel like I'm relaxing a little more about our financial situation (payments for the car, higher utility costs, etc). The test will be next Sunday (the first) when I balance the checkbooks and compare our expenses/incomes to the projected amounts (I already know that both will be a little over what they should be - I get three paychecks this month). Because we have increased the amounts that we are paying on loans we are actually spending more than we did when we were in Duluth, paying rent. I'm just so excited to get those loans taken care of.
Halloween: I don't plan to go out and party, but I work on Saturday so I will be in costume that day, and possibly the day before (we have a lot more employees working during the
week than on Saturdays). I already talked about going as Sally from the "Nightmare Before Christmas," and I have finished the dress, stockings, received face paint (to try to match stocking color), and gotten the shoes (from mom). I started the wig but need to add more yarn to it
. Here are photos of the front and back of the finished dress I made.
Work: Work has been getting a little stressful. I still love the job, but there have been some changes to the way things are done. My co-workers, some who have worked there for upwards of 10 years, are not pleased with the changes. We receive faxes from doctor's ordering wheelchairs, dressings, and braces. The old way of doing things was to put these doctor's orders into a folder until the patient came in and requested the item. The new way is to be proactive and call the patient to see if and when they want to come in for their item. The problem is that most times we have to search for the patient's phone number (takes time), we sometimes get many orders in a day, and we have people just coming in with a hard copy requesting the item right then. Some days we have the extra time to fill out the forms ahead and contact the patient. Other days we can barely help customers who are waiting in line because things are so hectic. I decided that I am okay with doing this new way because I believe that if it doesn't work, it will be obvious and we can switch back. My co-workers who have much more experience don't feel that we should have to upset the way things were because they worked well before, why mess around with that. I don't think I'm putting it very eloquently, but that's the gist of it.
Finances: I feel like I'm relaxing a little more about our financial situation (payments for the car, higher utility costs, etc). The test will be next Sunday (the first) when I balance the checkbooks and compare our expenses/incomes to the projected amounts (I already know that both will be a little over what they should be - I get three paychecks this month). Because we have increased the amounts that we are paying on loans we are actually spending more than we did when we were in Duluth, paying rent. I'm just so excited to get those loans taken care of.
Halloween: I don't plan to go out and party, but I work on Saturday so I will be in costume that day, and possibly the day before (we have a lot more employees working during the
week than on Saturdays). I already talked about going as Sally from the "Nightmare Before Christmas," and I have finished the dress, stockings, received face paint (to try to match stocking color), and gotten the shoes (from mom). I started the wig but need to add more yarn to it
. Here are photos of the front and back of the finished dress I made.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Autumn snow
Even though it wasn't a total surprise, it was forecasted, I was excited like a little kid to wake up to bright white outside. It's only enough to cover most of the grass and I haven't excited Dave enough to make a snowman, or snow-Kiki which is what he suggested, but still - it's snow and not even Halloween. I don't think this has happened in a while.
One of the things I have noticed since moving here is my not worrying about personal time so much. I used to try to hoard it up as a precious commodity. I thought the more time to myself I had, the happier I would be. I still get a lot of time to myself, but I don't think about it the same way. I've finally started to see chores as things that are part of life (sometimes enjoyable) and not so much as annoying obligations. I'm also able to just do things rather than over-think them. It's still a tendency of mine to over-think things, but that has more to do with emotions than actions. If it's been a while since I've seen my Grandma (a week, like today) I just go and see her, simple. And yet it wasn't always that way. I would weigh what I needed to get done, what I wanted to do more, how the choice would affect me in the future, blah, blah, blah. Maybe I'm starting to live my life more in the world and less in my head, but I know that these are still small steps that I'm taking (visiting Grandma, getting chores done now rather than later, going outside in the morning instead of waiting until the work day is over). (I guess) I'm committing myself to living in the world more and just doing things (like the Nike motto).
In other news, Kiki puked again today. When we first got her it happened a few times until I started brushing her daily (she is a long-hair calico). After the brushing it happened only twice, and now she has a "lion-cut" hairdo so I thought the fur wouldn't be a problem. I guess it's time to start brushing again, or being more careful about her food. She has a tendency to chow down when it's there so we try to give her small amounts multiple times a day. Here's a picture of the new bouffant.
Enough blog, time to start real life for the day.
Two more pics... one from Sept and one from today -
Sorry... two more things...
1. Do I now need to rake snow along with the leaves since they have recently begun to fall?
2. Dave just came in and told me this story... The other day he had one of his second graders ask him what death was, the reason? a story that was part of his curriculum. The story involves blue jays and a coyote. The coyote wants to fly so the blue jays give him feathers and teach him a song that he must sing in order to fly (I assume that this is the musical part of the lesson, it being music class and all). Now that the coyote can fly, the blue jays tell the coyote they want to play a game and start pulling out his feathers one by one - leading to his death. Is this really an appropriate story for second graders? That's fine that they learn the blue jay song, but did the coyote have to die? what was the point of that? Sadistic little blue jays. Apparently Dave told the poor kid that death was getting hurt (I'm hoping that there is some parental involvement and that someday the kid knows what really happens when people die).
3. (last thing I promise) Netflix will be delivering Spinal Tap to us today, for the second time. Dave must have forgotten that we already watched it (because he got bored and fell asleep at the end) and rented it because a friend thought it was hilarious and recommended it. I don't care that much, just find it amusing. "D minor, the saddest key of all."
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Gorge, and Halloween preview
First I will post a few photos that I meant to have on here a few weeks ago...
"Our" lake at sunrise.
Young adult loon.
Entrance to "the Gorge."
The photo on the right is also near the entrance of the gorge and if you look closely you can see the crane that I kept trying to get
shots of, just looks like a silhouette.
Here's one of the crane even further away, but more defined.
And lastly, a shot of the gorge (this is facing away from home).
It's past my bedtime but I will say that I am fully recovered from whatever was wrong yesterday. This leads me to think it may have been the flu shot, but I guess I'll never know for sure. Dave had pep band tonight so he's a little wiped out too. I'm excited about my Halloween costume. I'm going to be Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Maybe I'll take pictures of that progress. I don't seem to be able to complete sewing patterns so I usually just make something up myself. I've been making the dress out of this left over red material (from a Queen Amidala costume, but I am only making something to copy, since I don't have extra material for the Sally costume and I did have extra expendable red material. I did trace the lines for darts from a real pattern (that was meant for a shirt), but otherwise I just took my measurements and drew them onto the fabric (it made mathematical sense at least). Yay for Fridays... the end.
oh, P.S. the gorge is what my parents (and I) call this narrow strip of water that connects the lower lake to the upper lake. There's a current and the water is deep enough to dive into (in some places). It's also a fun place to go because it's not private property (or at least no one has a house on it), and has several good places to pull a canoe up and hang out or picnic.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
flu or flu shot
My temperature is raised and I am achy all over, I'm hoping that this is just a result of my caving and getting the flu shot yesterday, and not that I'm actually getting the flu. I came home from work at noon and have napped since. I'm eating left over soup and hoping that I feel better tomorrow for work. I decided not to go down to the cities for the money seminar I'm in, I think the drive would be difficult and I need more sleep than I could get if I went (11pm to 5am sleep window).
There's also the possibility that Dave will be going to the "boys weekend" at the cabin, so now I get to see him before he leaves if he does decide to go.
I've heard of a few people getting these symptoms after a flu shot, I know it's better than the real flu but still... I'm kind of a small person, maybe they should give me less of the vaccine? Or maybe I just took too long to get the shot and I have the real flu (don't think so since I plan on being better tomorrow :) ). I'm a huge wimp about needles which is why previously I haven't received a flu shot. The last shot I had was in 1997, and that was for Hepatitis B (I'm behind on tetanus unfortunately). The shot itself turned out to be no big deal, a tiny prick on my arm and soreness at the site. Apparently I just built it up enormously in my head.
There's also the possibility that Dave will be going to the "boys weekend" at the cabin, so now I get to see him before he leaves if he does decide to go.
I've heard of a few people getting these symptoms after a flu shot, I know it's better than the real flu but still... I'm kind of a small person, maybe they should give me less of the vaccine? Or maybe I just took too long to get the shot and I have the real flu (don't think so since I plan on being better tomorrow :) ). I'm a huge wimp about needles which is why previously I haven't received a flu shot. The last shot I had was in 1997, and that was for Hepatitis B (I'm behind on tetanus unfortunately). The shot itself turned out to be no big deal, a tiny prick on my arm and soreness at the site. Apparently I just built it up enormously in my head.
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